MX-5 OC Forum

The preparations for my second (!) trackday are going ahead. This time it's an evening visit to Brands Hatch with my dad. Last year I did my first track day which was great fun but highlighted some little issues, mainly a fair amount of understeer, particularly in fast corners.

To hopefully take care of this there are now a new set of Uniroyal Rainsports on the front, the Pirellis which used to be there are now relegated to the rear. It would of course be nice to have 4 new tyres but as usual there are some budget limits. The Pirellis are in decent condition so will (have to) last a bit longer

To top things off a session with Wheel In Motion for a "‘spirited’ fast road experience" setup is now booked in for Thursday and it will be Highly interesting to see what difference that will make. I have No experience of alignment changes before this, and certainly none with non-factory setups so this will be exciting

On a side note, when the new tyres were fitted I went for the Nitrogen option, mainly because it was cheap and "interesting". But now I'm getting slightly cold feet. The good news is that the local garage will top up Nitrogen for free, but the problem is perhaps that "on-the-road" (or track) top-up options are probably more limited. Does anyone have experience with how to handle this on track days?

I'm thinking simply to have the garage up the presssure slightly for the track day, and then see how things pan out. Would 27 psi be ok?

I've only had the Uniroyals on for a few days and they certainly seem more grippy them the Pirellis used to be. But perhaps also a bit more wobbly? But that may just be me not quite being used to them yet  

Rite don't worry about nitrongen unlike air it doesn't heat up so much so you shouldn't see a difference between hot and cold Tyre temps.

28 psi sounds about rite for a road tyre 

I use 28psi hot is what I use so that mean's my cold tyre temp can be as low as 20 psi depends on the day and also the track and what cut slicks im using. (please remember this isn't for road tyres)

But at the start I wouldn't worry to much about this.

Your time and money would be better spent getting some Tutition.

You can also mix Nitrongen with normal Air it just weaken's the mix.

I'm guess you had P6000 Pirellies ? even a carboard box is more grippy then they are.

Thanks!

I guess there is a lot of difference between setup for slicks and road tyres. Anyway, I'm a happy novice amateur so it's not like the car is going to be the main limitation

You're right, the rears are P6000 but they have actually held up pretty well so far. It seems like the fronts are still the first to go but i'm hoping that may change after the alignment exercise tomorrow.

Correction, the rear Pirellis are PZero Nero (Hero?). What kind of reputation do they have?

The 4-wheel alignment is now done and the tyre pressure up to 28 psi. There hasn't been much chance to push on the new settings so cannot say I feel much difference yet. Possibly the turn in is a bit quicker but hard to say. Probably says more about me then the car though  

Wheels-in-Motion said that without lowering the car you cannot setup the full "Fast Road" settings so currently it is a compromise between that and the standard settings. Apparently these cars were Raised when imported to the UK for pedestrian safety reasons, so their "normal" setting is lower. That sounds like the best reason I've heard yet for lowering a car, which otherwise I probably would not have considered.

Supposedly this "Raising" was even more pronounced on the MK3. Has anyone heard about this stuff before?

So yesterday me and my dad did an evening at Brands Hatch and it was quite a hoot!!

The weather turned out fine in the end despite it Pouring down on the way there and also pouring down on the way home. But it seems like the downpours stayed on the north side of the Thames thankfully

The car behaved beautifully on the new setup of new Uniroyal Rainsport 2 on the front, 28 psi nitrogen filled, sportier 4 wheel alignment setup and new brake pads. This car certainly still feels quite soft and does tend to "waffle" a bit in the corners and lean over too, which I blame on the original ride height as mentioned by WiM. Maybe also the Uniroyals are not the steadiest tyres in the world but the grip was good.

This time the understeer was all but absent and the car consistently turned in towards the apexes as instructed which makes a Huge difference for the confidence I must say

I could also stay out much longer on track without experiencing any brake fade (or indeed brake judder) and the tyre grip didn't fade either, so all in all a significant improvement on the first track day. It was great fun trying (and often succeeding) to keep up with the supposedly faster cars. Particularly there was a Honda Civic Type R and even a Mini Cooper S that I could mainly keep up with despite (I assume) a significant HP deficit

On the other hand there were a couple of drivers who clearly were Not awake when the Blue flag system was explained during the briefing

All in all a great evening and I now how much greater appreciation for Brands Hatch. The number of corners don't tell the full story as there are also Huge undulations which certainly adds to the character and the challenge, particularly Paddock Bend is an amazing roller coaster! However, the whole track can be done in 3rd and 4th only so from that sense it could perhaps benefit from a bit more variation. On the other hand it may be good for general wear and tear which seemed to be quite mild. Indeed, even the fuel lasted the whole way there, a couple of hours on track And the whole way home, which was a bit unexpected  Anyway, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to go to Brands Hatch again some day.

 Glad you enjoyed it.

Next time 2nd gear for Druids (hairpin) fast exit speed and then snatch 3rd part way down the hill so you can concentrate on graham hill  bend.

Then its 4th all the way around if you can maintain your speed around clark curve if not drop to 3rd and floor it!

Because you are more confident in your cornering you wont be using the brake as much ,thats why the would have lastded/felt better.

And im with Olly, £25 spent now on some instruction will set you up before you start to gain bad habits.

Keep it up and come along to the blyton bash

Plenty of track time and some free coaching.

Alan

Are there any more track days, suitable for novices and low powered cars like the MX5, in the South of England?

Blyton is about 5 hours drive away or I would go there.

zpat:

Are there any more track days, suitable for novices and low powered cars like the MX5, in the South of England?

Blyton is about 5 hours drive away or I would go there.

Castle Coombe, Silverstone or Snetterton.

Dont worry about the power just hang on in the corners.!

Castle Coombe is the only one Ive not driven, plenty of novice days for the Silverstone stowe circuit.

Alan

I suppose also Brands Hatch (as above - but how is it booked?) or Thruxton, or Goodwood, possibly Bedford Autodrome. I don't think there are any at Dunsfold (my nearest).

Any URLs for track days at these locations?

Easiest just to type in the track name into Google  

Otherwise Brands (and a few others) can for example be booked from here.

Also check "Mazda on Track" site for example.

I realise there is a Huge amount of time I can make up on the track in various ways. Overall I was quite happy to go smoothly though. 2nd gear was definitely an option for Druids but frankly I was mostly stuck in traffic there and the following downhill straight is simply too short for overtaking anyway (I did mention some drivers attitude to the blue flags?).

I could also make up multiple seconds per lap simply by being more aggressive on the brakes as I consistently braked well before the boards and not particularly hard. That suited me fine though as it wasn't a race after all    You live longer that way and obviously less wear and tear  

Not to mention that Paddock Bend is quite scary and I wanted to have a significant safety margin against going off there  

 Im certainly not pushing you, and yes paddock is a scary bend.

Just giving you a bit of advice, and yes the "little straight down from druids to graham hill is a great spot for mx5s to over take

A novice driver takes on brands hatch in a near standard 1.8 mx5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Eyvn6HUgk

Build up slowly And do use your brakes hard its a great way for the MX5 to gain time.

Alan